Philo Vs. Sling TV – 8 Things You Need to Know

Up until just a few years ago, there weren’t that many internet TV providers. But now, several big brands are offering internet TV services. If you’re stuck comparing Philo vs. Sling TV and don’t know which one to choose, keep reading to find out 8 important facts about how these services match up.

If you’re a fan of reality TV, how-to shows and “edu-tainment” programs that you might find on History Channel, Discovery, HGTV and other similar channels, Philo is worth a look. Philo’s ultra-cheap $16 subscription comes with 37 lifestyle and general entertainment channels. For $4 more, you can add nine more special interest networks to your account.

Best features

Philo’s extremely low prices are its main selling point. No other internet TV service is cheaper than Philo.

Even though Philo is super inexpensive, it has all the next-gen TV features that competing internet TV services offer. With Philo, you can record as much TV as you want and access your recordings for up to 30 days. Also, Philo learns what you like to watch and serves up show recommendations based on your viewing habits.

Downsides

Philo’s biggest weakness is its lack of channel variety. With Philo, all you get is reality TV, cooking shows, talk shows, documentary style programs and the like. American news channels, sports channels and the “big four” American broadcasters are not available.

Another issue with Philo is that it is still in the process of churning out apps for several key platforms. Philo doesn’t have apps for Android, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. The only next-gen TV device for the living room that Philo works with is Roku.

Subscriber count

Philo hasn’t revealed how many subscribers it has, probably because it just came out in November of 2017.

Sling TV offers similar prices and more variety compared to Philo. When you subscribe to Sling TV, you have to choose from one of three different base plans: the $20 Orange plan, the $25 Blue plan or the $40 Orange + Blue combo plan. All the base plans can be customized with a variety of channel add-ons packs.

* You get one stream with Sling Orange and up to 3 simultaneous streams with Sling Blue.

Best features

Sling TV’s $20 Orange subscription is one of the most well-rounded deals for cord-cutters on the market. Sling Orange doesn’t have any of the “big four” broadcast networks, but it does have ESPN and some other popular cable channels. If you use a TV antenna to fill in the missing channels, you can cut the cord without missing a beat.

Sling also shines when it comes to app support. Because Sling TV has been around longer than any other internet TV provider, it works with more next-gen TV devices than any other TV service of its kind.

Downsides

If you want next-gen TV features, you have to be willing to fork over more cash each month. Recording features cost an extra $5. And for some reason, you can’t record ESPN or any other Disney-owned channels.

Fact 1: They Both Have Similar Prices

Fact 2: Sling TV Carries Way More Channels

Philo’s channel menu is smaller and much more specialized compared to Sling TV.

As mentioned above, Philo caters to fans of reality TV, talk shows and educational programming. There’s no way to get any sports, news or broadcast channels through Philo.

Philo has two subscription options, and that’s it:

37 channels for $16 per month.

46 channels for $20 per month.

Sling TV, on the other hand, has all kinds of different channels– including several networks that your local cable provider probably doesn’t carry.

Sling TV has three different base plans:

Orange: $20 per month, 20+ channels

Blue: $25 per month, 45+ channels

Orange + Blue: $40 per month, 53+ channels

Once you get a base plan, you can add all kinds of different channel expansion packs. The price of the expansion packs changes depending on which base plan you have, but most of the Extras cost $5-$10.

News Extra: If you’re a news junkie, you can buy the News Extra and get all kinds of international and national news channels like BBC World News, CGTN, Euronews, France24, HLN, NDTV, News18, RT Network, TheBlaze Weather Nation and others.

Fact 3: Philo Has Better Next-gen TV Features

Sling TV’s recording features are in need of an upgrade. Philo lets you record TV content for free. You have to pay extra to unlock recording on Sling TV, though. Even after you unlock recording, you still can’t record any of Sling TV’s Disney-owned channels.

Philo also has better family features compared to Sling TV. With Philo, you can stream to as many as three devices at a time without any restrictions.

If you get Sling TV and pull up an Orange channel, nobody else in your family will be able to use Sling TV Orange until you close Sling TV. (You can watch Sling Blue channels on three devices at once, though.)

Sometime this year, Philo will release more next-gen TV features. Soon, you’ll be able to see where your friends and family are at in a TV series and find out whether or not they are watching TV.

Philo’s CEO Andrew McCollum was a co-founder of Facebook, and he has plans for Philo to become a new type of TV-based social network. In an interview with Business Insider, McCollum had this to say about Philo’s upcoming social features:

“TV will be transformed by making it more social. None of the TV products have any social functionality built in at all.” – Philo CEO Andrew McCollum

Fact 5: Sling TV Has a Much Stronger Selection of Apps

Because Philo just came out, Philo’s app lineup is extremely weak. However, Philo is working to change that. Philo just released a Roku app, and additional apps for Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV are on the way.

One nice thing about internet TV is that none of the internet TV providers lock you in with contracts. If you’re waiting for a Philo app to come out, you can just subscribe to Sling TV or some other internet TV service and then switch over when Philo rolls out whatever app you need.

Fact 6: Sling TV Unlocks More Cable TV Apps/Websites

Many cable channels let you access live streams and full episodes via their apps, but only if you subscribe to a TV service that’s compatible with TV Everywhere.

Both Philo and Sling TV are compatible with TV Everywhere, but Sling TV unlocks more TV Everywhere apps.

TV Everywhere apps can come in handy if you have a large family. If you’ve reached your simultaneous stream limit, you can still watch TV by logging onto a TV Everywhere app.

Fact 7: Sling TV Has More On-demand Content

On-demand videos let you tune in and watch your favorite shows and movies whenever you want.

Currently, Netflix and Hulu are the biggest on-demand players. However, Sling TV’s on-demand library is pretty big as well. Sling TV says it has 10,000 hours of on-demand content.

Philo’s relatively small on-demand library could be a deal breaker if you don’t already subscribe to an on-demand service. According to Philo’s website, Philo stores around 1000 hours of TV show videos in its on-demand library. Philo doesn’t have any movies, though.

Fact 8: Both Services Have 7-Day Free Trials

If you still can’t decide between Sling TV and Philo, try them both out yourself for free? Both internet TV services have 7-day trials.

One convenient thing about Philo’s trial is that you don’t need to pull out your credit card to sign up for it. All you need is a mobile phone number.

Philo Vs. Sling TV: Which Is Better?

Right now, Sling TV has more to offer compared to Philo. However, that may change as Philo matures and as Philo releases more apps.

On the other hand, Philo may be the better choice depending on how and why you watch TV.

How often do you watch sports?

If you can’t live without sports, Sling TV is the obvious better choice. Philo doesn’t have any sports channels and it also doesn’t have any of the “big four” American broadcast networks. Conversely, if you don’t watch sports at all, it could make more sense to go with Philo.

Do you have a large family?

Sling has placed a “one stream at a time” limit on all Sling TV Orange channels, which is a significant downside — especially if you intend to share your account with your family. Philo lets you stream all of its channels to up to three devices at once, plus it will roll out new social features this year. Additionally, Philo has better recording features compared to Sling TV.

Do you use a TV antenna to watch TV?

Sling TV’s Orange base plan and Philo both help fill in the gaps that you’ll encounter once you cut the cord and start using your TV antenna to get your entertainment. However, Sling Orange offers a more well-rounded selection of networks. Philo has a strong mix of lifestyle channels, but it lacks news and sports.

Do you use an Amazon, Apple or Android device to watch TV?

If you use a next-gen TV device to watch TV and you’re stuck between Philo and Sling TV, you’ll probably want to go with Sling TV. Currently, the only living room TV device that Philo supports is Roku.

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